Darvish won't play in WBC for Japan next year

Texas gave him a six-year deal that guarantees him $56 million.

Good decision on Yu's part. National pride is fine, but Texas is paying him a fortune to be the most effective pitcher for them he can be. He does not want to repeat Dice-K's mistake.

I'm a little torn here. Yes Texas pays your salary, but for an athelete, representing your country in a world tournament must also mean a lot. In football, playing for your country in the world cup has often been refered to as the pinacle of their sport. maybe I'm old fashioned. In ay case, all the best to Japan, and I hope Yu has a great season coming up.

Pitchers' arms are a bit different though. Other athletes, even other baseball field players, don't have to worry as much about injuring a body part, just how good their condition is. Pitcher's arms have to be gradually ramped up, carefully maintained thru the season, then must be given some rest in the offseason - otherwise, it pretty much has a high risk of injury and ineffectiveness. It's not something that could be in continuous use year-round and be fixed with just some rest.

but for an athelete, representing your country in a world tournament must also mean a lot. In football

The WBC isn't in comparision to the world cup. Elite players don't play in the WBC. It's a MLB publicity stunt.

No one cares about the WBC except East Asian nations.

I'm with magpie on this one. I guess it is his decision to make.

Given the realities of the long season in MLB, the aversion to injury by the players & the huge salaries that hang in the balance as pros, I think the WBC is a waste of time. Furthermore, not enough countries actually play baseball to make it interesting in the first place.

So will Japanese turn their backs to Yu now that he's clearly picked his American pay check over Japan? I don't blame him but never been a fan.

The 'tremendous honor to represent Japan' apparently paled by the 56 million dollar 'pay check'.

tmarie Nov. 07, 2012 - 08:18PM JST So will Japanese turn their backs to Yu now that he's clearly picked his American pay check over Japan? I don't blame him but never been a fan.

Deep inside, Darvish would like to pitch for Japan. However, it was a long first season for Darvish and his arm was already tired in August. Rangers were careful and gave him extra days off or skip the turns between the starts. Also, the pitching count was limited to 100-110 pitches per game. In Japan, he was known to have many games in the range of 140-150 pitches per game. Probably the best thing for him to stay healthy is to take some time off and limit the activity before the spring training. He is doing the right thing by skipping WBC.

he should do what he thinks is best for himself - NOT what is expected of him. my hat is off to him for saying NO.